Toasting Our Thirty Years at Eurobike

This year marks the 30th edition of Eurobike. As I walked the halls this year, I kept hearing the same conversations: that the organizers had overreached, and that the show's best days were behind it. Maybe that's true. I don't know.

What I do know is what Eurobike has meant to Strategic Sports.

We first exhibited there in 1997. Our booth was 3 meters by 3 meters and not much more than a few shelves. We had helmets set out for people to pick up and inspect. That was our entire presentation. 

Sherry was still working at Kalloy back then. We were just dating, quietly, the kind of dating where we'd walk the long way along the shores of Lake Constance after the show floor closed, just to prevent industry gossip. I don't think we were very successful that year. Not as exhibitors, anyway.

But I met Polysource at that show. And Hung Fat Hu rushed a new helmet to me so I would have something finished to put on the table. We presented the DH201, an inexpensive full face helmet. Nothing fancy. Just a good helmet at a fair price.

The DH201 was a surprise hit. Consumers were bidding on the samples we had brought with us, just so they could ride the course during the event. I stood there watching strangers negotiate over a helmet I'd barely had time to review, and that’s when I knew…we had a winning product on our hands.

That feeling has stayed with me for almost thirty years. Every Eurobike since has been a chance for Strategic Sports to show up and surprise the industry with our latest work and innovation. Some years quietly. Some years loudly. But we’re always there.

We've had many team members make that trip with us over the years. People who've worked the booth, carried the boxes, answered the same questions a hundred times a day, and still smiled at the hundred and first. The show has changed shape around us. The people standing next to me at the booth have changed too, year after year. But the feeling of walking onto that floor hasn't.

So this year, with the debate swirling about what comes next for Eurobike, we did something simpler. We raised a glass. Not to predict the future of the show. Just to acknowledge what a good run it's been. Three decades, from a 3x3 meter booth to here.

I think that's worth pausing for, whatever happens next.

Norman Cheng, Managing Director, Strategic Sports